Pages

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Besides Yumm sauce, the basic ingredients of a typical Yumm bowl - rice, beans, cheese, salsa, olives, sour cream, and cilantro - are also basic ingredients in lots of Mexican food dishes, such as enchiladas. So I decided to incorporate Yumm sauce into my usual enchilada recipe and see how it turned out. Joe and I really liked the result! It still tasted like an enchilada but there was also that familiar zing of Yumm sauce flavor.

I know the best way to make enchiladas is to lightly fry the corn tortillas in oil, submerge them in warm enchilada sauce, then fill with cheese and/or other filling and roll them up. That's the way my mom used to make them. A few years ago, however, she came up with a much easier method and I have been making them that way ever since. Instead of frying, filling and rolling each tortilla, you skip the fry step entirely and just lay them flat in the pan, add your filling over them, and layer more tortillas on top. The result is more like a lasagna-type dish. It's just as good in my opinion, but healthier and not as messy to prepare.

I used a can of enchilada sauce because it had been in my pantry for awhile and I wanted to use it up, but next time I would like to make my own.

This recipe is for a small (9 x 9) pan because I wasn't sure how they would turn out so I just made a small batch. I just used canned red kidney beans and cheese this time, but you could fill them with just about anything. In the past we have used Mexican spice tempeh and cooked shredded chicken.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Warm the enchilada sauce in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.

In a 9x9 baking dish, spoon a little of the enchilada sauce over the bottom, spreading it out in an even layer.

Place a layer of tortillas over the sauce, breaking them into pieces to fit into the corners as needed.

The next layer is your "filling", so add about half the beans, and 1/3 of each of the cheeses.

Add about half of the Yumm sauce in dollops over the whole surface, then use a spatula to spread it out a bit more evenly.

Next, add another layer of tortillas, the rest of the beans, another 1/3 of each cheese, and the rest of the Yumm sauce. Cover with the remaining tortillas.

Pour the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the top.

Top with the rest of the cheese, and scatter sliced olives over the top, if using.

Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes, or until it's bubbling excitedly around the edges and the cheese is melted on top.

Remove from oven, and preheat the broiler.

Top with diced tomatoes, cilantro, and green onions (if using). Return to the oven and broil for a few minutes, just to warm up the toppings you've just added. Let stand for about 5 minutes before cutting into wedges. Serve with sliced avocado and sour cream if desired.

Don't fret about that! We're just excited to hang out with you guys! We really enjoyed that soup you made last time, and your chicken alfredo lasagna from your blog looked awesome to me. We'd also be perfectly happy just getting a pizza (I think I saw a Papa Murphy's near your house??) But yeah, let's talk soon :-)